A ukulele player's look at jazz and popular songs of the early 20th Century

BY TIM HATCHER

One of the joys of learning the ukulele is discovering the wonderful songs of long ago--the beautiful melodies and lyrics that deserve to be remembered and revived. Thankfully, vintage sheet music abounds on the internet, and so I've had a great time tracking down lots of the old songs, transcribing them to chord/lyric sheets--in a good key for my voice--and then learning them on the uke. If you would like to receive my chord/lyric sheet for any of the songs featured here, email me and I will be happy to share them. (tims.email@yahoo.com)

Have a listen to Van and Schenk, a popular Vaudeville duo:

Thursday, August 11, 2011

One of the many British period films in recent years was the engaging 2005 musical MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS, set in the London of the World War II years. The film stars Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins and presents the story of a performance hall run by Mrs. Henderson which embarks on a series of all-nude reviews in an attempt to stay in business during hard times. One of the stand-out numbers, for me, was this jaunty, up-tempo tune from 1933, performed by pop star Will Young. Of all the songs I've ever attempted to learn by memory, this one takes the prize as the most difficult. The nonsensical lyrics are the biggest challenge with their many repetitive but slightly altered phrases. On top of that, one must learn exactly where to breathe in order to finish without gasping for breath. After a year or so of trying, I've yet to make it through from start to finish without some hitch or stumble. Perhaps that's why it's fun to keep trying.

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Songwriter Jack Scholl wrote songs for Warner Bros. from the mid-'30s to the mid-'40s, the best known being CASABLANCA (1942). His best-known songs include "Throw Another Log on the Fire", "My Little Buckaroo" and "It Had to Be You." Co-writer Max Rich's best known songs include "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile" and "One For All - All For One". As for the third contributor, Bradford Browne, I have yet to find any details about his career.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

At last the world is beginning to discover that one can sing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” without imitating Tiny Tim. The song itself is quaint and charming, particularly in its original context. It was introduced in the 1929 film GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY, performed by the popular tenor Nick Lucas, “The Crooning Troubadour”. Another hit song he introduced in that film was “Painting the Clouds With Sunshine”.

In 1968, the song was permanently tainted by the novelty performance of Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury) who managed to imprint the song with a whimsy and buffoonery it carries to this day. But with the renewed interest in the ukulele, the song is once again seeing the light of day--and indeed deserves to be enjoyed again. Tiny Tim was a fan of Nick Lucas, and in fact, had him perform this song on the occasion of his wedding to Miss Vicki on December 17, 1969 on THE TONIGHT SHOW. On the same show he also sang “I’m Looking at the World Through Rose-Colored Glasses”.

Songwriters Joseph Burke (1884-1950) and Al Dubin (1891-1945) collaborated on many other songs including “All I Want to Do Do Do”, “As Long as I Have You”, “Crosby, Columbo and Vallee”, “Darn Fool Woman Like Me”, “So is Your Old Lady” and “Painting the Clouds With Sunshine“. Separately, their collaborations included hits such as “Oh, How I Miss You Tonight”, “Rambling Rose”, “South American Way”. Al Dubin wrote dozens of songs with Harry Warren over many years, beginning in the 1930s, and included titles such as “We’re in the Money”, “Shuffle Off to Buffalo”, “I Only Have Eyes for You” and their 1935 Oscar winner “Lullaby of Broadway”.

Friday, January 7, 2011

One of the most popular and prolific songwriters of the first half of the last century was the amazing Harry Warren (1893-1981), a personal favorite of mine. His long string of #1 hits include: "I Found a Million Dollar Baby", "Forty-Second Street", "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby", "Jeepers Creepers", "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", "At Last" and "I Only Have Eyes for You". He wrote more than 400 songs for close to 90 movies from 1928 through 1981. His Oscar winning compositions include "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe".

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Songwriter Sam Lewis (1885-1959) also contributed many well-known songs to the American songbook, including "Dinah", "For All We Know", "Rockaby Your Baby With a Dixie Melody", "Five-Foot-Two, Eyes of Blue" and "My Mammy".

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Joe Young (1889-1939) did not have the output of Warren or Lewis, but his well-known works include "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (with Fats Waller), "Lullaby of the Leaves" and "Was That the Human Thing to Do".

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Warren, Lewis and Young joined forces to create the haunting "Cryin' for the Carolines" of 1930. I first heard it a few years ago on one of my LPs, and finally managed this year to get my hands on the chords. I performed it at the Lone Star Uke Fest's open mic, but the video wasn't decent enough to share. Hence, I recorded this home-on-the-sofa version to post.

MORE ABOUT VINTAGE MUSIC

If you would like a copy of chord/lyric sheets for any of the songs I mention here in my posts, email me at tims.email@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to send you a digitized version if I have one. I will be sending the chords and lyrics only, not the published sheet music itself.